The Moonshiner is a folk song with disputed origins. It is believed that the song originated in America, then later was made famous in Ireland. Others believe that it was the other way around. The Clancy Brothers

The Clancy Brothers

The Clancy Brothers were an influential Irish folk music singing group, most popular in the 1960s, they were famed for their woolly Aran jumpers and are widely credited with popularizing Irish traditional music in the United States. The brothers were Patrick "Paddy" Clancy, Tom Clancy, Bobby Clancy...

 stated on their recording that the song is of Irish origin, but again, this is disputed. Delia Murphy

Delia Murphy

Delia Murphy was a singer and collector of Irish ballads. Her notable voice gave her the nickname the "Queen of Connemara".-Early life:...

 was singing it in Ireland from the late 1930s. American country music singer Tex Ritter

Tex Ritter

Woodward Maurice Ritter , better known as Tex Ritter, was an American country music singer and movie actor popular from the mid-1930s into the 1960s, and the patriarch of the Ritter family in acting...

 is famous for a song of similar tune and lyrics by the title "Jack of Diamonds (song)

Jack of Diamonds (song)

Jack of Diamonds is a traditional folk song. It is a Texas gambling song that was popularized by Blind Lemon Jefferson. It was sung by railroad men who had lost money playing Coon can. At least twelve white artists recorded the tune before World War II...

" from as early as 1933. Bob Dylan

Bob Dylan

Bob Dylan is an American singer-songwriter, musician, poet, film director and painter. He has been a major and profoundly influential figure in popular music and culture for five decades. Much of his most celebrated work dates from the 1960s when he was an informal chronicler and a seemingly...

 recorded "Moonshiner

Moonshiner

Moonshiner may refer to:*Moonshiner, one who makes moonshine, illegal distilled alcohol*"The Moonshiner", a traditional folk song...

" around 1963; this version was released on The Bootleg Series Volumes 1-3 (Rare & Unreleased) 1961-1991

The Bootleg Series Volumes 1-3 (Rare & Unreleased) 1961-1991

The Bootleg Series Volumes 1–3 is a compilation box set by Bob Dylan, issued on Columbia Records, catalogue C3K 86572. It is the first installment in the Dylan bootleg series, comprising material spanning the first three decades of his career, from 1961 to 1989...

. The song has also been performed by Elliott Smith

Elliott Smith

Steven Paul "Elliott" Smith was an American singer-songwriter and musician. Smith was born in Omaha, Nebraska, raised primarily in Texas, and resided for a significant portion of his life in Portland, Oregon, where he first gained popularity...

, Cat Power

Cat Power

Charlyn Marie Marshall , also known as Chan Marshall or by her stage name Cat Power, is an American singer/songwriter and occasional actress and model. Cat Power was originally the name of Marshall's first band, but has come to refer to her musical projects with various backing bands...

, Rumbleseat

Rumbleseat

Rumbleseat was the acoustic-folk side project of Hot Water Music frontmen Chuck Ragan and Chris Wollard, and Bitchin' frontwoman Samantha Jones...

, Cast Iron Filter

Cast Iron Filter

Cast Iron Filter is a band based in Davidson, North Carolina. Their genre is similar to that of Progressive Bluegrass, but Cast Iron Filter's fans call it "Irongrass"...

, Railroad Earth

Railroad Earth

Railroad Earth is a roots and Americana-based newgrass band from Stillwater, New Jersey. Their name was borrowed from the Jack Kerouac short story "October in the Railroad Earth," to which the band also has a song by the same name...

, Bob Forrest

Bob Forrest

Bob Forrest is the lead vocalist and lyricist for Los Angeles bands Thelonious Monster and The Bicycle Thief. In September 2006 he released his first solo album, Modern Folk And Blues Wednesday. He is also a drug counselor, appearing alongside Dr...

, Roscoe Holcomb

Roscoe Holcomb

Roscoe Holcomb, was an American singer, banjo player, and guitarist from Daisy, Kentucky. A prominent figure in Appalachian folk music, Holcomb was the inspiration for the term "high, lonesome sound," coined by folklorist and friend John Cohen...

, Uncle Tupelo

Uncle Tupelo

Uncle Tupelo was an alternative country music group from Belleville, Illinois, active between 1987 and 1994. Jay Farrar, Jeff Tweedy, and Mike Heidorn formed the band after the lead singer of their previous band, The Primitives, left to attend college. The trio recorded three albums for Rockville...

, Jeffrey Foucault

Jeffrey Foucault

Jeffrey Foucault is a singer-songwriter from Whitewater, Wisconsin. His 2001 debut album, Miles from the Lightning, won much praise from critics and helped to kick-start a career of tours across the United States, Canada, and Europe. Along the way, he has played with such artists as Greg Brown,...

, The Tallest Man On Earth

The Tallest Man on Earth

Kristian Matsson is a singer-songwriter from Dalarna, Sweden. Since 2006, he has released two full-length albums and two EPs...

, The Floorbirds, Dear August, Tim Hardin and Fannigan's Isle.